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After the gentle evacuation of the two meter bee colony in the roof of Jaap’s place, my cottage looked like world War 2. There was splatters of honey everywhere… On the floor….. On the walls…oozing from the gaping hole that was once a ceiling Sadly, lots of little dead bee soldiers died of heartbreak from losing their queen… Either that or they got stuck in the thick layer of honey that covered the walls and floors. I do know, however, that they were happily relocated to their new home at Tera khaya. Lukhanyo Shane Eades says that they are doing well over there and seems content and buzzing around in their new abode.

So this morning I could not face the sticky carnage and left my staff to do a clean up operation while I go and join the garden club outing to the Shire Eco lodge in Stutterheim, were we were taken through a nursery with wondrous indigenous bulbs. There were lots of amazing… plants and trees and growing stuffies … Some which are very rare and take years and years to blossom. All I know is that it is inspiring to listen to someone who obviously loves what he does and have the patience of Job.

My gardening knowledge has increased exponentially and I can now tell the difference between… a plant… and a tree… and maybe some of the weed looking thingemelings in my garden may just be a little treasure of a rare plant. One highlight of the excursion was sniffing a seed that smelled like heaven.

I must just mention that the main talking point was…. how hungry we all were as we viciously fought to get a taste of Jenny Newman’s sweeties that she tried to hide in her bag. Stutterheim turns out to be just as waterlogged as Hogsback and after our extensive plant tour, we perused the accommodation at the Shire Eco Lodge, which is truly charming and romantic.

As our tummies were getting the better of us, we moved along back to Stutterheim to a delightful little Bistro serving a unique bufet lunch of njammy quiche, curry, lasagne and salad, with a Malva pudding to finish off this well deserved feast. This was the perfect conclusion to a mellow morning of chatter and garden inspiration. All I can say is that it is definitely worth while joining the Hogsback garden club.

When I give up my day job, I will most certainly start paying more attention to the finer details of garden nuances and maybe even get my hands dirty with sand. For now I am still totally intimidated by it all and am quite happy to allow my vast garden to enjoy the freedom of abundant growing (only curbed by the occasional goat trimming. This must be how my technophobe teachers feel about my high tech workshops! Luckily the Hogsback Garden Club happily allows garden-phobes like me to join in the flowery fun and are well known for fabulously marvelous social gatherings- something I can at least join in with, without getting my hands full of sand!

When I got home, a few lost bees were still trying to figure out what happened to their palace, but I spoke to them nicely and pointed them in the direction of their new home across the valley.

1 comment

Wow Maggie, that’s quite a hive. I hope they thrive in their new home. And take it from one tech tannie to another you will love the wonder and miracle of growing your own food in your patch of garden when the time comes. Just have to figure out how to keep the goats and the monkeys out. 🙂 By the way, I encourage bees to come to the garden by growing Borage and I have a special pan of water with marbles in it so bees can perch and drink. I don’t think I’d like them to move in on the scale you have had.